Does anyone know if the plans are dead for Pete donating his time for the design of a course on a Cistercian or Benedictine monestary grounds in Sparta Wisconsin? Did ol Pete mention anything about donating for indulgences to balance out all the Dyabolical stuff he's done, Jay? 
Brother Dick (or whatever) --
This is the last I've heard of it -- an Associated Press report from October of 1999:
SPARTA, Wis. - A monastery planning the longest golf course in Wisconsin has decided to solicit private donations for the $7 million project designed by world-renowned course designer Pete Dye.
Our Lady of Spring Bank Cistercian Abbey, a Roman Catholic community of monks in the Town of Angelo east of Sparta, hopes to build ``The Monastery,'' what would be an 18-hole golf course. The course will support the monastery.
``This legacy will carry long into the new millennium,'' said the Rev. Bernard McCoy, a spokesman for the monks. ``We will carry out charitable causes locally, nationally and internationally with scholarships, education, aid to arts and culture, aid to the poor in various ways, helping out Third World nations and mission lands, build churches, whatever.''
McCoy, a spokesman for the monks, said he hoped to start the project by April 1, 2000, and open by July of 2001.
``It's a short amount of time, but you never know ... with monks something always special seems to happen,'' McCoy said. ``If the money comes in, the bulldozers will start going out, so people can start playing sooner.''
The monks and David Colbert of Sparta announced their original plans for the course on March 30. At that time, McCoy said they hoped to begin moving earth by Aug. 15.
However, there have been alterations to the original plan. McCoy told the La Crosse Tribune on Wednesday, McCoy said that rather than developing a corporation made up of investors, the monks, Dye and Colbert have decided to fund the project through donations.
McCoy said the course will be called ``The Monastery,'' because ``it connotes everything we want it to be - peace, reverence, solitude, beauty, hospitality.''
At 7,475 yards, The Monastery will be the longest course in Wisconsin, featuring five sets of tees with bent grass throughout the 300 acres.
Dye and his assistant, Tim Liddy, took a flight into La Crosse on Tuesday and made their first official visit to the abbey and the golf course property.
``Every few minutes, Pete would get out of the truck, sift the sand, kick a few trees and look at the wildflowers,'' McCoy said. ``It was a perfect time to visit. The colors are at their peak right now.''
Dye, Liddy, McCoy and other monks from the abbey then met to finalize fund-raising plans. They actually began several months ago when Dye, a devout Catholic, agreed to waive his $500,000 design fee as an in-kind gift. The monks hope to attract more donors.
``The direction we are going at this point is to have the whole course built on a donation basis through a fund-raising campaign with the abbey as the sole owner,'' McCoy said.
``We hope people will want to help Pete Dye and the monks invest in a course that keeps giving back to the community.''
Dye has designed many major courses including Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and Harbor Town in Hilton Head, S.C.
McCoy said the abbey will lease the land to the golf course, and although the monks own the land, it will become a separate corporation. He said that because the abbey is non-profit, it can lease the land tax free.
While the price tag for course development and clubhouse construction is $7 million, including Dye's fee, McCoy said he believes it could cost less.